So well deciding what to write my blog about I decided to ask my lovely friend Gwen for a topic idea. Her first response? Cats. After asking her again she told me to write about the amazing experience that was LeakyCon because I failed miserably and never blogged about it. Now while this blog will probably just be me reiterating what I said in my vlog today (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4X8erG7fV8) I decided to write about it anyway because I had no better ideas. And on that note, WE BEGIN!
LeakyCon was amazing. More amazing than I could ever put into words, so instead I am going to use the same adjectives over and over and hope to get my point across. Each new day brought new experiences, each one more crazy and exciting than the next. Being someone who has never attended any kind of conference before, I had no idea what to expect from it. However I knew it was going to be 5 days I would never forget.
Day 1 started out with lots and lots and LOTS of waiting in line. We arrived at the Royal Pacific Hotel around noon and I was immediately overwhelmed from the intense amounts of nerdy-awesome radiating from everyone. Nearly everyone had some kind of Harry Potter or Nerdfighter attire on and my friend and I couldnt help but smile as we walked to registration. There were lots of complications with nearly everyone's registration, so we had to wait in a endless line of endless-ness to get to Conflict Resolution. However we were able to make it to one Lit Day even called "I Was a Teenage Author" which was hilarious. It involved authors such as John Green, Libba Bray, Stephanie Perkins, David Levithan, Scott Westerfeld and Robin Wasserman reading works that they wrote when they were younger and needless to say, it had nearly everyone crying of laughter by the end.
Later that evening all 3,400 attendees gathered in the main ballroom to kick things off with the opening ceremony. The ceremony featured tear jerking fan videos, live performances from Starkid, Potter Puppet Pals, Hank Green and Harry and the Potters, as well as a video featuring some fans (including myself!) saying thank you to JK Rowling. Needless to say, I was crying at the end. And of course, to bring more tears, after the ceremony we set off for Hogwarts to our after hours even called Open at the Close. As the entrance to Hogsmeade came into view and my eyes set on the bright red steam engine, my friend and I instantly were overwhelmed with emotions and began to cry once again. If you've been to the Wizarding World before, you will know exactly how we felt. After crying even more while walking through the all too familiar halls of Hogwarts, sipping Butterbeer in the Hogs Head Pub, going to Ollivander's to purchase a wand and having an all around wonderful time with all my friends, we turned into out hotel room for some sleep, knowing more fun would be waiting for us in the morning.
The next 4 days are all jumbled together in my mind, so I can't tell you exactly what happened on each day, so I will point out some highlights. I got to witness some of the most epic Wrock concerts that ever occurred in the history of wrock shows. They involved Evanna Lynch dancing crazily on stage as well as playing bass for a Harry and the Potters song, The last Remus Lupins set, lots and lots of pink and green party favors from the Parselmouths as well as some amazing dancing from the crowd. I also got to attend my first ever Nerdfighter Gathering, and although John was too sick to be there, we sure had a blast while Hank took questions, played music and while Maureen Johnson used her Twitter Powers to basically make anyone who had internet in the room do anything she said. And I mean ANYTHING. Examples you say? Maureen made us spontaneously start jumping up and down, ask ridiculous questions, make annoying noises and pretend to be asleep. Needless to say, Maureen Johnson has some serious power.
Along with all this, I also got to meet some really amazing people. I have built some amazingly close friendships on the internet over the past few months, and I was fortunate enough to get to meet some of these people at the conference. I got to meet 5 out of the 6 other girls who are part of my collab channel (Brooke was there in spirit however!) And it was so lovely to be able to be with them and totally geek out about everything. As well as seeing many many many other internet friends, I also got to not really meet, more just see and fangirl some of the actors from the Harry Potter films. Evanna Lynch, Scarlett Byrne and the Potter Kids from Deathly Hallows pt. 2 all attended the conference and seeing them live and in the flesh was a dream come true. During the Esther Early Rocking Charity Ball, there were many songs where all the actors, as well as other famous people in the fandom, got up an stage and danced together. It was amazing, that's all I can say about that. So so so amazing.
Getting to attend LeakyCon was an experience I will truly never forget and although goodbyes were rough and had us all close to tears, we still have the memories to look back and smile at. LeakyCon made me realize that I was a part of something bigger than I could have ever imagined before. It was amazing to see so many people from all over the world come together because of the passion they shared for the stories Jo gave us. With the people there and the experiences I got to have, I truly felt at home while at LeakyCon. I was able to spend 5 days talking nonstop about something that has made my life and personality the way it is today. So thank you to everyone at LeakyCon who made it so magical, and for reminding me that although this is all ending, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome us home.
Until tomorrow,
Delaney
Book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Song: This is It by Lauren Fairweather
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OH MY GOD SUCH A GOOD POST. SO MUCH FUN. <3
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